Implant Chips - Keeping Abreast Of Safety

Posted by Dr Ashish Dutta on 8 November 2017

With scares about the use of breast implants over recent years, it’s only right that prospective or repeats patients for whatever reason should be naturally concerned about what happens to the prosthesis once it is inside the body.

Silicone breast implants have been the subject of several major concerns over recent years due to the use of unapproved filling compounds that potentially risked and caused health worries to many thousands of women.

Although the medical procedure for the replacement of breast implants is well documented, there is a further technological enhancement on the horizon that will aid the wellbeing and hopefully reduce the stress and worry for potential and future patients of the procedure.

Establishment Labs based in Belgium and Florida are marketing a new silicone breast implant that takes advantage of the RFID or Radio Frequency Identification technology that has become so popular in industrial and retail applications, and both monitors the status of a product; say in transit or for example the shelf life.

By clever adaption of the technology and installing a biologically inert microchip into the implant, doctors will be able to use a hand-held scanner to gain access to information about the implant such as serial numbers, manufacture dates and possibly further along the timeline actual physical data about the status and integrity of the implant itself. Such developments would considerably reduce concerns about the use of units such as the ones that caused concerns to over 300,000 women who risked rupture and breast scarring with faulty or leaking implants manufactured by the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

The new product, Motiva Implant Matrix Ergonomix has the world’s first micro transponder technology called ‘Q inside Safety Technology’ that records the data at point of origin and has been cleared by the FDA for surgical implant use. The data can then be read with a non-invasive, external hand-held scanner.

"It’s about giving women the power of verification and control throughout the life of the device" Company CEO Juan Jose Chacon-Quiros said. Such developments give peace of mind and should reassure both surgical teams and patients alike.

This was a fit and healthy patient and we decided to go ahead with the procedure after the appropriate consultation. Patient was delighted with the results after the operation but it's still early days.